Am I supposed to be doing WIWO or what?

[dollstar]

Hi

I'm totally confused about whether or not I'm supposed to be doing WIWO or not?  My 11.5 month old dd is having trouble going to sleep at night.  She is normally a good independant sleeper with no props.  Over the past two months she has began to have more and more nights when she really fusses and cries going to sleep at night.  The problem is that when I sit next to her bed, she just plays around and thinks it's a game and it drives me nuts!  But as soon as I try to leave the room, she just cries and cries before I even reach the door.

I'm not sure what to do, as I'm sure I read somewhere on this forum that she is too young for WIWO??

If someone could shed some light that would be great!!!!

[dollstar]

Oh,  also, I'm not sure, but I don't think it's SA as she has no other 'symptoms' at all. 

[*Liz*]

They say 12 mths plus for WIWO so I think you could start now really.

Is this a routine issue though? How is she napping?

Sleep issues are often due to the 2-1 nap transition at this age.

[dollstar]

Hi.  thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure if it's a routine thing...  she is napping no problems.

Her EASY looks like this:
6-6:30am Awake
9:30/9:45-11:00am First Nap (I have tried to start pushing this out a bit later but she is really tired by 9:30/9:45ish)
2:30-3:30pm Second Nap
7pm Bedtime

If it is a rountine thing, I'm just not sure what I should be tweaking??  Any idea??

[igotabear]

Wow, that pretty much exactly the routine my 16mo has.  He is in Daycare M/W and only gets 1 nap but make up for it the other days. 

It could be a teething thing that she is crying more.  I know my son cries a lot more when he is teething. 

His bedtime looks like this:  Dinner with the family, then into the bath until 6:45 and then story time with milk (in his room so there are not a lot of distractions).  Then I/we brush is teeth, I get him in bed, stay no more than 5 minutes (usually 2-3) getting his night light turned on and blankets situated and I leave.  Lately he has been playing in bed because he is not ready to go to sleep but knows that I am not coming back in so doesn't cry.  When I was reading his night time story in the other room or the bedtime routine is different he does cry, and I will go back in calm him down (with him in his crib and don't pick him up) say it's time for bed and leave (about every 15 min or so and making it longer each time until he does go down).

I hope things go well for you and let us know what you do and how it goes.   

[dollstar]

Hi.  thanks igotabear.  I don't think it's teething as she has no other symptoms.

I just don't know what's going on though...  today at bedtime, she only fussed for a few minutes (yay!) but then woke 1/2 hour after bedtime and needed us to go in to re-settle her.  She then woke another 1/2 hour later again and needed re-settling.

Is this a routine change?  If so, what part of our routine should I tackle???  (See our EASY above)

any suggestions for one confused mama...

[*Liz*]

How long have you had that routine? Do you wake her at 3.30pm or does she wake herself?

I'm wondering if she might be a bit UT at bedtime.

[dollstar]

Hi Liz

We've had this routine for about 2 months now.  I generally wake her from her am nap and the she wakes by herself at the pm nap.  You might be right that she is UT at bedtime, but I'm not sure how to tweak routine to make sure the day isn't too long.  I still want her to be in bed by 7pm.  Do I start cutting naps?

[*Liz*]

Well what I would do first is extend bedtime to 7.15pm to test the theory - and if it helps then do a major routine tweak and start cutting one of the naps.

I know you want to keep the bedtime - but it is a easier check than cutting the am nap straight away.